Second Trimester- Month 4!

Ok So here we are in week 18! I am sorry this post took so long! It turns out weeks 14-17 were really hard. So I didn't really have time or energy to reflect on Month 4 until now. The internet tells you that your symptoms are supposed to ease and you may even regain some of your sex-drive. I am going to call a big old BS on that. I had a horrible time trying to sleep, constant headaches, nausea was back, and, something fun and new, terrible sciatic nerve pain. There was also a week where it felt like someone took a hammer to my hip bones. So I give month 4 two thumbs way way down.


Here is a handy little chart about Sciatic nerve pain. It was so very painful. I actually went for a prenatal massage and watched some videos about stretching. ( I then did the stretches...I didn't just watch a video and wait for magic) The combination of that and sleeping with a pregnancy pillow finally gave me some relief.

Headaches and nausea are trickier since you can really only take Tylenol. Really what I needed was to go home and sleep. I did use a good amount of vacation and sick days.The trick is making sure that you eat the moment you are hungry. I am actually struggling with weight loss right now so eating constantly is now imperative.

Another big milestone for month 4 was a glucose test. As someone who is over weight there is an increased risk of gestational diabetes. As a result us bigger ladies are often asked to take this test twice. Once at the beginning of the 2nd trimester and again at the beginning of the 3rd.

Here is how it works. You drink this horrible sugar water. (pictured below). You have 20 minutes to finish it without getting sick. If you get sick...you get to start over. Then you sit and wait for an hour while you body tries its hardest to deal with the sugar assault. (Mine was orange flavored which is a million times better than lemon lime...believe me if you get lemon lime...ask for orange)

Anyway after the hour your blood is drawn and your insulin levels are checked. Here is a handy chart!

Folks...I am going to tell you that so far my proudest moment in this pregnancy was CRUSHING the test. My sugars came back normal. Hopefully I wont have to test again in the 3rd trimester (yah the results were that good.) BTW where it says "My Scores" is just an example...my results were better.

We also got the results of our genetic testing. (No I don't know the gender...it's a surprise!)  We got great news which is that we are in the lowest percentile for all genetic disorders. So here is to a happy and health baby!

Ok so not a lot happened in this last month but it was really exhausting. I will say that I am official huge. I cant wait for the 20 week anatomy scan, getting the nursery under way, and getting even bigger!